


Something Has Changed Within Me, Something Is Not The Same

by Panikki



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Attempted Rape/Non-Con (no more than canon), Awesome Burt Hummel, BAMF Brittany S. Pierce, BAMF Kurt Hummel, BAMF Quinn Fabray, BAMF Santana Lopez, Blaine Anderson Bashing, Cheerio Kurt Hummel, F/F, Gen, Kurt Hummel-Centric, Light Elf!Brittany S. Pierce, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Not Blaine or Klaine Friendly, Not Canon Compliant, Not Rachel Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rachel Berry Bashing, Rating is subject to change, Siren!Kurt Hummel, Smart Brittany S. Pierce, Succubus!Santana Lopez, Swearing, Witch!Quinn Fabray
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panikki/pseuds/Panikki
Summary: Kurt Hummel thought he was ordinary (except for his stellar fashion sense, which was anything but ordinary.) But then the summer before senior year came and everything he had ever known changed right before his eyes. Now he has ride or die friends, a confidence he had never felt before and powers he was still getting used to. Kurt was determined to get through senior year with his coven and escape to New York, but bad things are coming for the four coven members. Will they be able to weather the storm or will they break under the pressure?
Relationships: Kurt Hummel & Brittany S. Pierce, Kurt Hummel & Santana Lopez, Kurt Hummel/Sebastian Smythe, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Quinn Fabray & Kurt Hummel, Quinn Fabray & Santana Lopez & Brittany S. Pierce, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Comments: 43
Kudos: 76





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> *This is set in their senior year, but aspects of season two has been sped up to be meshed with season three. So, Glee club didn't begin until Kurt's third year (junior year) of high school, when Rachel tattles on Sandy because she didn't get a solo. Will takes over in Kurt's junior year where the events of season one takes place. This fic is a mix between season two and season three, starting after the summer.

Burt Hummel knew Elizabeth Delmer was special. She seemed naïve to the world around her, but forged ahead despite some missteps. She was bold, stubborn yet graceful and fluid, letting problems roll off her like water off a duck's back. Burt was freshly twenty two when he spotted twenty year old Elizabeth and he knew, then and there, that she would be in his life for good. She was new to town, coming all the way from France to settle down in Lima, Ohio. He approached her in a small café and everything else was history. Six months of knowing each other led to dating for two years. They had a small wedding, Burt’s family the main audience as not many of the Delmer’s could make it. A few years later, baby Kurt was born. Burt didn’t know how he was capable of loving someone more than he loved Liz, but there Kurt was, staring up at him with bright blue eyes that resembled the ocean on a summer’s day.

Soon, Elizabeth was busy teaching a small toddler how to play the piano, how to sing (and  _ wow _ , their voices meshed so well, Burt thought to himself). Kurt begged to try on her heels, which led to Elizabeth shopping and finding the perfect sensible heels for a kid Kurt’s size. They practiced model walking, then running, then dancing in heels. They seemed unnaturally graceful as they twirled together in the middle of the living room. She enrolled him in ballet lessons that week.

Burt knew in his heart that his kid wasn’t like other kids, in the way Elizabeth was different from others, but also something  _ else. _ Something that made him fear for the safety of his child later in life, when kids would get mean. When they’d realize Kurt loved a gender that society deemed he shouldn’t. Elizabeth and Burt had hushed conversations about it, late at night when the moon was high in the sky and Kurt was fast asleep.

During the day, Elizabeth would teach Kurt French as she did yoga, Kurt attempting to follow along with her moves while trying to enunciate a language that wasn’t his mother tongue. Burt took lots of photos, becoming a bit of a photographer of his wife and son during their happiest moments.

Moments of them laughing, baking, dancing in the rain in their underwear. Sometimes they just sat in the rain, playing hand games that his wife found entertaining when she had first arrived in Ohio. Then, it was Elizabeth’s turn to take pictures.

She would document a small Kurt sitting on a stool beside his dad in a garage, dressed in overalls that were much too big for him, hanging onto every word his dad said as Burt explained the mechanics of a car. 

Kurt took after his mother, but held a few traits that came from his father. He was supportive, caring, kind and  _ so  _ willing to learn from mistakes. He got Liz’s stubborn personality, her ‘give-no-fucks’ attitude and her refusal to change so others would be more comfortable. Of course, that’s not always a good thing. 

Once he was in school, surrounded by children that were like him but also  _ weren’t _ , he wasn’t sure how to act. Standing up to bullies led to punishment, telling an adult meant he was shunned as a tattletale. His gentle nature battled with his stubborn personality. He didn’t want to keep getting in trouble for lashing out at a bully, especially since he was much smaller than most of them, but he couldn’t just let them walk all over him! Fortunately, Liz was there to handle the situation.

Kurt sat on a stool, watching his mom sew a garment as she explained that while the clothing is what gives people a good first impression, it could also be seen as armour so all insults rolled off him. 

“Like water off a duck’s back,” she had said, smiling fondly. Soon, Kurt was making collages with designer clothes in them, learning to sew so he could make the garments himself. Liz and Burt would watch from the door, smiling fondly and feeling like everything was going perfectly.

Then, things began to fall apart. Kurt was eight years old and his mother was in a hospital bed, looking frail and so unlike herself. It was like looking at a stranger. Kurt handed his mother a glass of water when she tried to say something, her voice coming out creaky with disuse. The doctor’s said it was leukemia, Kurt insisted it was something else but no one would listen to him. When he brought it up to his mother, she made a shushing gesture and held him close to her chest.

“I made my choice, my love. It was the best choice I ever made because I met your father and had you,” she explained. Kurt rested his head above her heart, listening to the rattling heartbeat. “Je t’aime, mon petit chéri.” 

Kurt felt his eyes tearing up as he muttered softly, “Je t’aime, maman.”

A few days later, Elizabeth Hummel née Delmer succumbed to her illness. She was cremated. On a particularly windy day, Kurt and Burt made the drive to the nearest beach and climbed to the top of a cliff over the water. They both took a handful of ashes and let the wind take them, swirling the ashes down into the crashing waves. The two men said nothing on their trek back. Everything was different with Elizabeth gone.

There was no more laughter for a long time, dance lessons and piano lessons made Kurt feel hollow, though he kept them up as he knew his mother would’ve wanted him to. Singing in the house felt forbidden. No more playing in the rain, just sullenly staring out the window and tracing the lines that the raindrops left on the glass. Things weren’t right in the Hummel household for many years. 

Finally, though, humming could be heard from the kitchen as Kurt cooked breakfast. Dance lessons and playing the piano became less tedious and Kurt sat in comfortable silences with his father, reading books while the man watched a television show. Neither were great at talking out their feelings, but they made sure to tell each other that they loved each other often. The Hummel men were through the five stages of grief, ending on acceptance. They were still sad, of course, but they knew the world kept turning even without Elizabeth and, in order to stay caught up, they had to turn with it. Without even truly realizing it, nine years had passed and Kurt had turned seventeen.

School was a cesspit of bullies, so Kurt donned his armour, let everything slide off and found a tentative group of friends in the Glee club. There were many ups and downs, mistakes and things he apologized repeatedly for. Things others had to apologize for. There was more drama than Kurt cared for, but they were there for each other when someone fell on hard times.

Then summer came around, and everything  _ changed _ . Changed for the better? Well, he wasn’t sure, but it definitely changed for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed and want to read more, please check out my form and fill it out!  
> [Google Form](https://forms.gle/7wcfuyr2uFrRJ57m6)
> 
> Comments mean the world to me  
> -N


	2. Chapter One

The first day of school came quickly for the students around Lima, Ohio. As people arrived, most lingered in the courtyard. They didn’t want to be inside the school any longer than they had to. An inconspicuous Navigator pulled into the parking lot. No one paid it any mind, too busy catching up with friends they hadn’t seen for a while. People began to take notice, however, when Quinn Fabray exited followed by Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. Everyone waited as the driver’s door opened, revealing Kurt Hummel.

No one could figure out why the four of them had ganged together all of a sudden. They all had sunglasses on. Santana and Brittany wore their cheerleading uniforms, but Kurt was unsure about his place on the team and Quinn still hadn’t won back her place after last year's pregnancy debacle. 

They both looked quite stylish and put-together. Kurt’s hair was artistically messy and swept up. He had on a white button up that was unbuttoned at the top, showing off his collarbones. His sleeves were rolled up underneath the long navy blue overcoat he sported. His black jeans were tight and ripped at the knees only slightly. His shoes were black and shiny.

Quinn had the top part of her shiny blonde hair in a bun, the rest hung down to her shoulders, framing her face. She wore a coral sleeveless turtleneck that had a small, triangular cutout at her chest. She had on a high waisted, black flared skirt that ended just below her fingertips. She also wore an overcoat, though hers was a brown suede. Her lace up booties were a coral colour as well.

All the girl’s makeup seemed to be minimal. Santana had winged eyeliner and Quinn had put on some lip gloss, but that was about it. However, their skin as well as Kurt’s seemed radiant and flawless. Moreso than the year before. Something had definitely changed over the summer.

The four were walking in sync, breezing by everyone and leaving the scent of what smelled like perfume in their wake. The scent of the ocean with something earthy and flowery mixed in, perhaps? They stopped at Brittany’s locker first as a slight hush descended in the hallway before frantic whispering broke out. 

“You would think the lemmings in this school would be a little used to us being together, last year we had Glee together  _ and _ I was on the Cheerios,” Kurt sighed, pulling off his sunglasses. 

“No offence, Kurt,” Quinn began, “but you still weren’t the type we normally hung out with.”

“Yeah,” Santana butted in as the girls all pulled off their sunglasses and they all stashed them in Brittany’s locker. “Lady Lips, it’s just a fact that you were still a loser despite the awesome Celine Dion medley at Cheer Nationals.  _ Now _ we know you’re the opposite of a loser but you can forgive us for our blunders last year. We were young, naive.” She put a hand to her forehead and pretended to faint into Kurt’s arms.

“Okay, Satan, I get it.” Kurt rolled his eyes but bumped her shoulder with his own.

“Besides,” Brittany said as she closed her locker and they headed for Quinn’s, “it doesn’t matter what we thought back then because you’re important to us now. And, they’re probably also staring because Quinn and Santana don’t often get along without a cause behind their cooperation.”

“I wish I could disagree, but it’s the truth,” Quinn replied, shrugging off her coat and hanging it in her locker.

“Yeah, yeah,” Santana interjected. “Queenie and I disagree all the time, but after this summer we can’t afford fighting. Can we get moving? If we want to catch Sue before her daily terrorizing of the freshmen, we need to hurry up.” Quinn nodded and the group made their way to Santana’s locker and lastly to Kurt’s. Unsurprisingly, some meatheads had come early to mess with the locker, as was tradition.

“Those  _ assholes _ ,” Santana seethed as she stared the word  _ faggot _ down. Well, it was spelled FAGIT but Kurt and his girls knew what the perpetrators had meant. “I’ll rip their dicks off!”

“Santana,” Brittany said, grabbing Santana’s hand and uncurling her fists. “Your eyes…” Kurt and Quinn quickly looked up, trying to lock eyes with Santana.

“Santana, you need to calm down. When was the last time you fed?” Kurt whispered, noticing the ring of silver around Santana’s pupil.

“None of your business,” Santana grumbled in response, looking away.

“Yesterday,” Brittany answered for her. “I knew she needed the energy for today.”

“Should we call Maribel?” Quinn wondered aloud. Santana’s head shot up at the sound of her mother’s name.

“No! Look, Mamá told me last night that, as our bond is new, it’ll take some getting used to. We can feel what each other is feeling so my control is all out of whack.” Santana went to cross her arms but Brittany caught her hands, linking their pinkies together. Santana shot her a grateful look.

“Okay, so we all just need to make sure our coven bond doesn’t interfere with our control. Especially me, since I  _ just _ came into my...inheritance this summer,” Kurt mumbled as they moved as a unit towards Sue’s office. 

“Game plan,” Quinn requested. “How’s the day going? What classes do we have with each other?”

“First, we get back into Cheerios,” Kurt answered, letting Quinn slide her arm in the crook of his elbow. “What are our schedules like, Santana, Britt?” The two girls behind him snapped back to attention, having previously been giggling to themselves. Kurt handed Brittany his and Quinn’s schedule so the girls could compare them all.

“First period is Spanish for me, Art for Britt and French for you two,” Santana said absentmindedly, cursing under her breath and hoping Shue would have figured out how to teach and speak proper Spanish over the summer. 

“Second period is Biology for Kurt and I, World History for Quinn and English Language Arts for Santana,” Brittany added. “Third period we all have Algebra together.”

“Fourth period, Britt and I have Home Ec while you two have Women’s Studies, we all share the same lunch period, fifth period Quinn and I have Chemistry, Britt and Kurt share Dance,” Santana continued.

“Sixth period, I have English, Santana has World History, Kurt has Psychology and Quinn has Family Studies,” Britt finished as they neared the doors to Sue’s office. “And then we all have Glee after school on Thursdays, if Shue didn’t switch days this year, and hopefully Cheerios together every day.”

Kurt and Quinn gave the girls a thankful look over their shoulders before unhooking arms and knocking on the doorframe of Sue’s office. The woman looked up, glare firmly in place.

“Well, if it isn’t Porcelain and Preggo Fabray! Well, I guess you’re not pregnant anymore. And how could I miss Tweedle-Fake Boobs and Tweedle-Hair Extensions? You’d think with boobs that size, you’d have poked someone’s eye out on the way here. Is anyone out in the hall bleeding, Sandbags? Should I call the nurse?” Kurt could see Santana resist covering her chest, a slight twitch in her arm giving her away to him. Brittany had adopted a far away look in her eye, hands idly playing with her hair that had grown exponentially over the summer.

“Coach Sylvester,” Quinn started but was quickly cut off. 

“No.”

“You haven’t even heard us out!” Quinn snapped, taking a step towards Sue. Kurt put an arm in front of her, silently urging her to calm down. She was letting Santana’s lingering anger from earlier get to her through the bond.

“Look, Coach Sylvester, Quinn and I want back on the team. You know we’re some of the best out there and you could use the extra boost to win Nationals this year. Both Quinn and I have been training all summer, so we won’t need to catch up.”

“Yes you will,” Sue scoffed, looking down at her papers thoughtfully. “Everyone will need to catch up because they all are  _ incredibly mediocre _ at best. Porcelain can be back on the team. Q, not so much.”

“You will let them  _ both  _ on the team, or we  _ all _ drop the Cheerios,” Santana cut in. Sue slowly raised her eyes to look at the four.

“You wouldn’t do that,” she said, looking at each of them. Kurt and Santana both raised an eyebrow in unison.

“I think they would, don’t you Quinn?” Kurt questioned, giving Quinn a small smile. Quinn grinned back before turning to look Sue in the eyes.

“Oh, I  _ know _ they would. And without the top Cheerios? No eighth consecutive win, how embarrassing.” Quinn didn’t move her eyes from Sue as the woman glared at them, trying to make them break. When no one did, Sue pursed her lips and sat back in her chair.

“Fine, Q and Porcelain are  _ both _ on the team, but one misstep and it’s over. I’ll have you fitted for your uniforms at lunch. Get out.”

“Coach, one more thing,” Kurt cut in as they all were turning to leave. “I refuse to wear the Cheerios uniform on normal days. I’ll wear it on assembly days and for competitions and all that jazz, but on regular days,  _ all four of us _ get the choice to be out of uniform but still get the perks of being Cheerios. Is that fine?” Kurt stared her down, ice in his blue eyes. Sue’s eyebrow slowly raised before she finally acquiesced.

“Fine. Leave. Out, now.” When the group of four got out of sight, they all gave each other high fives.

“Thank god we don’t need to always be wearing these ugly uniforms,” Santana cheered.

“Yeah, too bad we didn’t bring a change of clothes,” Brittany pouted.

“I brought a change in my car,” Kurt revealed. “Stuff you left at the house over the summer.”

“Awesome, thanks Twinkerbell.” Santana grinned. Brittany gave him a quick hug followed by a promise to meet by her locker at lunch. They finally all separated to get to class, the bell ringing in their wake, causing gossiping students to rush to get to their classes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was too excited to wait to post this chapter lol Don't expect a chapter every day, I just couldn't help myself :D The length of the chapters will vary btw.  
> Thank you so much for reading, if you'd like to have a little input in the story, try filling out my Google Form!  
> [Google Form](https://forms.gle/7wcfuyr2uFrRJ57m6)  
> Here's some pictures I drew of Kurt and Quinn in their outfits from this chapter:  
>   
> 
> 
> Comments make my day!  
> -N


	3. Chapter Two

After the dismissal bell rang, the four met up at Kurt’s locker. They found it spotless, no slur in sight.

“Sue works fast,” Kurt muttered to himself as they all stashed their books in his locker. He looked in his mirror that hung on the door, fiddling with the collar of his button up for a moment before turning to survey the girls.

“We need to look like a cohesive unit for the shit show that’s bound to occur when we get to Glee club. We can’t get angry because it will become a loop where we all are sending anger to each other through the coven bond, making us angrier and then sending even more anger to each other. So, stay calm.”

“We get it, Fruit Loop,” Santana sighed, exasperated. “But you’re gonna have to calm your nerves cause I think we can all feel how anxious you are.”

“Right, right.” Kurt took a deep breath, feeling how hard his heart was beating. He shook out his hands but when neither worked to calm him, he turned to fussing over his appearance. The girls shared a look behind his back before Quinn spoke up.

“Hey, would you check us over and make sure we look alright?” She asked, batting her eyelashes playfully. Kurt gladly took the opportunity, looking the girls over. He redid Quinn’s bun for her but otherwise left her outfit untouched.

He turned to Santana who was wearing a black mesh crop-top with sleeves that went down to her elbows. The only part that wasn’t see-through was the part over her boobs, obviously. She wore fishnet stockings under ripped dark blue skinny jeans and some brown booties. He fussed with her hair (which she had taken out of the tight ponytail) before turning to Brittany.

She wore a lilac top that showed off a sliver of her stomach. It was long sleeved and had dark purple ribbons over where the sleeve ended in a ruffle. She wore light blue jeans that had a black waistband and a leather band on each leg, right above her knees. She had on some lilac flats that matched her shirt. He tightened up the ribbons on the sleeves and tucked a strand of platinum blonde hair behind her ear, having been taken out of her ponytail as well.

With one last glance at himself (restraining himself to just fidgeting with his hair for a minute, to the relief of the ever impatient Santana), he allowed them to head towards the classroom.

As they neared the bustling room filled with teenagers, they all felt a pit of dread in their stomach, Quinn most of all. Her intuition was telling her shit was going to hit the fan and her Nana Thompson constantly told her to always trust a witch’s intuition. True to everyone’s shared feeling, Rachel Berry marched over to intercept the four before they could even make it two steps into the room.

“Kurt, what are you doing with  _ them?” _ She questioned angrily, crossing her arms over her ugly reindeer sweater.

“Rachel…” Kurt gritted out. “Nice to see you, how was your summer?”

“Apparently not as great as yours, seeing as you’ve turned  _ traitor _ . How could you? Do you know what this will do to me?” There was a large pause before a hasty “and the club!” was thrown in afterwards.

“What are you on about, puta fea y loca ?” Santana butted in.

“Frankly, Santana, this is between Kurt and I,” Rachel huffed. Santana raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, really? Because, last time I checked, we were also part of the club. Just because we’re talented enough to juggle two extra curriculars plus have social lives doesn’t mean we weren’t instrumental in getting us to Regionals just so you could sing your little song, cry on stage and frankly be as annoying as possible.” Santana cocked her hip, checking her nails as Rachel spluttered.

“At least I’m not dressed like a stripper! One day, I’ll be on Broadway and you’ll be on a pole or a street corner, soliciting money from old, creepy men so you can get more money to fix the awful boob job you obviously got over the summer.” Rachel smirked, proud of herself, though her comeback lacked the cutting wit Santana managed to weave into her words.

“That’s enough!” Kurt, Quinn and Brittany exclaimed in unison.

“Kurt, what are you doing with them? They made all our lives a living hell, including yours! You’d turn your back on your real friends for a bunch of Barbies who would drop you the second they found someone better?” Rachel’s voice softened, a tell-tale sign she was whipping out the blatant manipulation.

“The thing you don’t seem to understand, Rachel, is that these girls are my ride or die. I’d take a bullet for them and I know they’d do the same for me. There isn’t anyone ‘better’ in their eyes because they love me more than they love the so-called ‘better’ people and vice versa. So  _ back off _ . Stop acting like you weren’t just as instrumental to making the Glee club one of the most hostile environments for everyone in here as these three were.” Kurt stepped around the girl, leading his friends to the back row of seats. He looked up to find Mercedes and Finn glaring at him. Rachel dabbed at her eyes theatrically as she sat next to Finn, his arm around her shoulders. She kept glancing over her shoulder at them, seemingly trying to make them feel bad for making her cry. Kurt resisted rolling his eyes and focused on Mr. Shue as he wandered into the room, oblivious to the tension and drama that had taken place. 

“Alright! Good to see everyone!” Mr. Shue said, clapping his hands together. “Although, unfortunately, Matt has transferred schools.” Everyone looked at Mike, who sat forlornly next to Tina. She was trying her best to comfort him.

“Mr. Shue!” Rachel’s shrill voice cut through the air. She stood up before the poor man could get a word in. “Since we’ve lost a member of the chorus, I propose we do a song that features me as a soloist in the courtyard to attract new members. With me doing the solo, there’s bound to be lots of students who’d want to join in order to be seen and mentored by me.”

“First of all, Matt wasn’t just part of your background singers, Rachel. He was our friend and a vital part of our club. He had a nice baritone voice that filled in the gaps well when we all were forced to sway in the background in your one woman show,” Kurt snapped.

“Second of all,” Quinn picked up where he left off, giving him a chance to shrug off his annoyance. “Doing a song in the courtyard? In front of the jocks that throw slushies at us on the daily? Hard pass.”

“Thirdly,  _ if  _ we did a song, it would be a group number. We have a multitude of talented people in this club and  _ none _ of us are put to use because your scrawny ass won’t let other people have nice things,” Santana added with a smirk, watching Rachel’s face slowly grow red with anger.

“Guys, that’s enough. Don’t gang up on Rachel!” Finn spoke up for the first time, defending his girlfriend.

“Finn’s right, we shouldn’t put people down for their ideas, no matter how unconventional they are,” Shue added, trying to gain control back. Rachel begrudgingly sat down, letting Shue take the floor. “Rachel is right.”

“Oh mon Dieu,” Kurt muttered to himself. “Of course he thinks she’s right.” Brittany put a hand on his shoulder, offering silent support to help get him through what seems to be another meeting where Shue focuses entirely on Rachel and Finn.

Ten minutes into the meeting, shit has gone down hill. Everything had been going fine until Shue had decided to give his pep talk, consequently giving them the task of learning the lyrics and choreography to Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z. Nothing wrong with that, but then the complaining started.

“Mr. Shue, as much as this song fits what we’re going for, getting to New York, I don’t think it adequately shows off my voice to the public enough,” Rachel ranted, stomping her foot like a toddler. “I think everyone in the club would agree--”

“No. No, we wouldn’t,” Kurt gritted out. The girl would get riffs galore in the song, Kurt was stuck doing the back up vocals. Objectively, that would be fine. What was so annoying was that Kurt could probably count the number of songs he sang to an audience (that wasn’t just for a theme in Glee club) on one hand. He was a little pissed, to say the least, when Rachel opened her big mouth to complain about Mercedes getting the Alicia Keys part instead of her. 

“I’m still not talking to you,” Rachel snapped, glaring at him as if he had run over her cat or something. “You waltz in here as if you’re suddenly better than all of us now that you’re hanging out with those cheerleaders, as if they’ve ever or will ever have your back like we have.” Rachel continued, though Kurt had tuned her out with a roll of his eyes. A quick glance at Shue told him that he was ignoring the screeching in favor of making sure Finn didn’t break someone’s nose. The choreography was dull, a shell of actual dancing. Shue was good at making them move in unison and then having them take a stance, giving the illusion of choreography when there really wasn’t any.

“Kurt!” Shue called, finally noticing that Kurt had sat down a good eight minutes after seeing what Shue wanted them to do for ‘choreography’. “You need to practice like everyone else.” Kurt glanced around, making eye contact with his coven. He tilted his head slightly, a silent question on if they had already been given their quick demonstrations. They nodded and Kurt looked back at Shuester, getting up from his chair.

“Mr. Shue, with all due respect, I could do this choreography in my sleep. I request that Santana, Quinn, Brittany and I be allowed to go get ready for Cheerios’ practice.” Kurt studied his nails before hearing a guffaw, looking up sharply at Shuester.

“If you and the girls can show me you know the dance already, I’ll let you leave.” Shuester gestured for everyone to get back and let the four have the room they’d need. Shue started the song, Kurt mouthing along as he did fuck all for the first half except move his body periodically, the girls coming in and doing their body rolls soon after. He crouched as the girls did the Alicia Keys part of the dance before jumping in with them, doing choreography he would’ve done in his grade K-2 dance class. They finally struck their pose at the end, not even out of breath.

“Can we leave now?” Santana asked snidely.

“Well, even if you did alright, you’d still need to practice being on time with everyone else!” Shuester spluttered.

“If everyone else is rhythmically on time, then they’ll be in sync with us,” Brittany responded, already shouldering her bag with her workout clothes. 

“I think you need to worry about everyone else, except Mike,” Quinn quipped, gesturing where Mike was trying to help Finn out while Rachel kept telling Mike he was doing it wrong, as if she was a better dancer or knew choreography better than Mike. Kurt stifled a scoff before grabbing his own bag, walking out the door with the girls. Shuester watched for a moment in shock before hurrying over to Finn to try and do damage control.

Cheerio practice was grueling, which was to be expected. What Sue didn’t seem to expect was how well Kurt and Quinn were doing, or how synchronized Kurt, Quinn, Santana and Brittany were, always on beat while freshman stragglers were always a few beats behind. If it weren’t for the sweat stains adorning the four teens, people could’ve been under the impression that practice had just begun for them. 

“Alright, I’m sick of watching this floundering around! You!” Sue pointed at one of the bases, her arms had the slightest tremor as she held up Santana. She looked terrified. “If I see a tremor by this time next week, I’ll not only have you cut from the team but I will have you expelled and blacklisted from cheerleading altogether. It’s not hard, people! Try drinking blended placenta for breakfast! That’s hard!” She stopped yelling into her megaphone, shoving it into Becky Jackson’s hands.

“You’re all dismissed!” Becky shouted before following Sue out of the gym. The flyers were set down and the girl that had been singled out began to cry, having to be comforted by fellow freshmen. Everyone else hurried to the changing room, though Kurt and his coven stayed behind.

“Oh, fuck sake,” Santana hissed out before striding over to the girl. “Look wimp, if you adjust your grip next time to hold the ball of the flyer's foot, that could help.”

“Use your butt and thigh muscles to help with stunts,” Brittany added, walking up to Santana and linking their pinkies. “They’re the most important muscles to use.”

“Keep your core tight, don’t lean forward and for God’s sake, don’t slump,” Quinn jumped in. “Shoulders stay over your hips--”

“--and don’t  _ ever _ arch your back. Keep it straight throughout the stunt until the flyer is caught in the cradle. We won’t say it again, so keep all this in mind,” Kurt continued. His friends came back to stand around him, watching silently as the girl wiped her tears, said a meek thank you and ran for the locker room. 

“I hate freshmen,” Santana complained, pulling her hair out of her ponytail. Kurt tugged at a lock of hair playfully, laughing when Santana swatted him away. He danced away from her and she followed, intent to get her revenge. Their laughter stopped when they noticed Mercedes lingering in the doorway to the gym.

“Hey,” Mercedes started, looking down when her eyes caught Kurt’s as the coven approached. “Can I talk to you, Kurt?” Kurt nodded, grabbing Santana’s hand and squeezing it when she opened her mouth to protest. He walked with her down the hall for privacy.

“What’s going on, Kurt? I love you but you’ve done a full one-eighty with your personality. You barely had time over the summer to talk to me, you said your dad had you busy with work but now you’re hanging out with Quinn, Santana and Brittany? I was mad in Glee but now I’m just confused and hurt,” Mercedes ranted, taking a deep breath afterwards.

“I know, Mercedes and I’m  _ so _ incredibly sorry for making you feel that way. I did lie, I thought it would be for the best because I can’t explain exactly what’s going on. Yes, I’m friends with Quinn, Santana and Brittany. Something happened over the summer that blindsided me. I would’ve gone to you if I thought you would’ve known how to help, but the others knew how to help and we’ve been close ever since,” Kurt explained, wringing his hands nervously. “I love you too, you’ll always be one of my best friends. I just need you to trust me that when I can tell you what’s going on, I will. But I can’t, not yet.” Mercedes scrutinized the boy, watching him carefully before nodding.

“I’m not happy you lied, that you’ll have to make up for somehow. However, I know you’re a genuine person Kurt, I trust you. So, as long as they’re your friends, I’ll put up with the Unholy Trinity. But I have to screen them first, make sure they’re good enough for you,” Mercedes teased, nudging Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt beamed, holding out his elbow for her to take.

“Thank you, Mercedes. You mean the world to me. I know how important trust is, I won’t let you down,” Kurt promised as he led her over to where his coven had stationed themselves.

“Everything okay?” Quinn asked, her eyes darting between Kurt and Mercedes. All three girls relaxed at Kurt’s nod.

“New friends, meet my first friend,” Kurt introduced, gesturing grandly to Mercedes. “She will now be having sleepovers and shopping sprees with us!”

“Fine,” Santana commented, looking bored though her lip twitched up into a genuine grin.

“Mercedes, I’ve been meaning to talk to you!” Quinn exclaimed. “I appreciate you giving me a place to stay until my Grandmother could take me in while I was pregnant…” Quinn quickly took Mercedes away from Kurt, both girls chatting away as they started the walk to the parking lot. Brittany caught Kurt’s hand when he went to follow.

"You’re sure about her, Kurt?” She asked seriously, her brow furrowed. Kurt squeezed her hand.

“I’ve never been more sure in my life, Britt. She’s one of my best friends,” Kurt explained. Brittany nodded before grabbing Santana’s hand with her free hand and pulling the two towards the exit.

“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.” Brittany laughed, calling out for Mercedes and Quinn to wait. The two girls stopped and as Kurt neared them, he felt a large weight fall off his shoulders. Everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> puta fea y loca means ugly, delusional/crazy bitch/whore in Spanish :) Thank you to SatinBirds for correcting me :)
> 
> If you want, check out my Google Form and you could have a little more impact in the story!  
> [Google Form](https://forms.gle/7wcfuyr2uFrRJ57m6)  
> My Santana and Brittany outfits:  
>   
>   
> Comments make me very happy! Thank you for reading :D  
> -N


	4. Chapter Three

The coven split up with Mercedes in the parking lot, waving the girl goodbye as she climbed into her car. 

“Hate to admit it, but she’s not as annoying as I thought she was going to be, considering the death glare in Glee club,” Santana remarked as she and Britt climbed into the backseat of Kurt’s Nav. Quinn and Kurt sat up front, Kurt waiting for everyone to buckle up before making the drive back to his house.

“Mercedes can be a diva, but so can the rest of us. Especially me, I’ll admit,” Kurt huffed, concentrating on the road. “However, she was my first friend and I feel really bad that I didn’t contact her during the summer.”

“You didn’t exactly have a choice, Kurt,” Brittany replied matter-of-factly. “You would’ve put her in danger the first half of your summer, considering how out of control your voice was. A typical human would have been extremely affected by your siren call, which you were doing every other day by accident.”

“Brittany’s right, you were too busy and too  _ dangerous _ to be around humans. You’re lucky we finally felt the pull of our fourth before anything serious had happened,” Quinn said, placing her hand on Kurt’s shoulder and squeezing. Kurt sighed.

“I know, and I’m eternally grateful that you and Santana housed me until I could get in contact with my grand-mère and get formal training,” Kurt replied before pulling into the driveway of his house. “I just wish I could explain everything to her, but I know I can’t because I’d expose you guys, not just myself.”

“Stop blaming yourself, Twinkletoes. I’m sick of hearing this woe-is-me shit, alright? Tough love time from Auntie Snixx,” Santana leaned forward to make eye contact with Kurt. “You were too busy and too frantic to remember other people existed outside the network of covens, which is  _ not your fault _ considering you were trying to master your voice virtually all by yourself. You know sirens are very isolated creatures so Quinn’s family Grimoire had about two pages on them and that’s all you had to get by for the majority of the summer. It’s over and done with now, you can’t turn back the clock so you need to get over it. You were busy making sure people wouldn’t either die or flock to you in waves whenever you opened your mouth to speak, so quit fucking blaming yourself! Ugh, being around sad people makes my skin break out.” Santana wrapped up her speech and her coven could feel how vulnerable she felt by showing how much she cared so they let her climb out of the car and hurry into the Hudson-Hummel household, followed closely by Brittany. Kurt took a moment to steady himself, letting Santana’s reassurance sink in. She was right, which wasn’t unusual. Kurt steeled his resolve, knowing that the past is the past and if he wanted to make it up to Mercedes, he needed to look to the future instead. 

Quinn had already gone inside by the time Kurt shook himself of his guilt and made his way into the house. Burt was probably still at the garage, Carole was likely at work as well. Kurt didn’t know where Finn was, but he had stopped caring after getting over his embarrassing crush on Finn. He had been creepy, he will admit, but he apologized profusely to Finn (being essentially called a fag really put a damper on his crush and brought to light that Finn wasn’t actually the saint Kurt had made it seem like in his head) and he later apologized to Quinn when they had become coven mates. Finn had shrugged it off but stopped being so high-strung when Kurt was in the room and Quinn had actually thanked him, saying that if he hadn’t interfered, she would’ve still been stuck at home as the perfect Christian daughter. She wouldn’t have known she was a witch, as she only found out when her Nana Thompson stepped up to take Quinn in after being kicked out. 

Kurt headed into the kitchen, where his coven mates had congregated, getting some snacks. Quinn had taken the glamour off of Brittany and Santana, as the Hudson-Hummel house was a safe place, blessed by Nana Thompson and Mateo Lopez (the only two witches in their coven network) so that, if Kurt or any of his coven members who had features that weren’t human were inside the house, human eyes would slide away from the unusual features and it wouldn’t register. Santana had her horns out and was cutting into an orange with her long, sharp nails. Brittany’s ears were elongated and there were glowing silver lines in her blue eyes. Quinn’s magic washed over Kurt, like a cool ocean wave. He felt his teeth sharpen, his nails becoming longer and sharper as well. 

“When do you think the Jolly Green Giant will be home?” Santana asked, spearing a piece of orange on her nail and shoving it into her mouth.

“You mean, when do we have to go to my room so we can avoid his snooping?” Kurt snickered, checking the clock. “I’d say we have half an hour, but I guarantee Rachel will be forcing her way into the house sooner or later, so be vigilant.”

“She’s probably  _ so _ pissed that Finn didn’t say anything about us all being around each other all summer,” Quinn laughed, pulling her wand (that had been hidden by the glamour) from her bun and letting her hair go loose. “She doesn’t know he couldn’t even if he tried!”

“Bless Nana Thompson and papá for doing the spellwork to keep our secrets from being spilt.” Santana put a dramatic hand to her heart and raised her other hand to the sky. 

“Considering how many times you’ve accidentally said something to Carole or Finn in the months of the summer, feel blessed that your dad or Nana Thompson didn’t maim you. They had to do  _ way _ too many memory-altering spells,” Kurt teased. Santana gasped, playfully swatting at him.

“It was, like, twice! Leave me alone!” Santana cried, pouting when everyone laughed.

“It was at least five times, älskling,” Brittany replied, blowing Santana a kiss and flashing a smile full of sharp teeth at her look of betrayal. Kurt and the girls got caught up in discussing their days and the upcoming coven network meeting. Kurt had made them fruit salad and was placing the dishes in the sink when they heard the slam of car doors. Brittany sat up straight, listening intently for a split second.

“It’s Finn and Rachel,” she sighed. “I can hear Rachel whispering to Finn, he hasn’t said anything but she’s talking shit, like always.”

“Upstairs, then?” Kurt suggested, though all of them were already striding towards the staircase. The door flung open, Finn stumbling in while Rachel attempted to squeeze past him so she could reach the retreating four.

“Kurt!” She called. He tensed for a split second before continuing up the stairs. Suddenly, he felt someone yank on the back of his shirt. He felt weightless for a moment before Santana caught him, her nails leaving holes in the fabric of his button up. She looked at Rachel, practically vibrating with rage.

“Good going, Hobbit. You nearly cracked open his skull,” Santana hissed through clenched teeth. Quinn and Brittany paused to watch at the top of the stairs, ready for the inevitable fight.

“Well, if he had stopped when I called him, I wouldn’t have had to grab him,” Rachel pouted petulantly. Kurt turned around, staring down at her.

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ put your hands on me again, do you understand? This is your first and last warning. You might not like what happens when you try doing it again,” Kurt seethed. 

“I just wanted to talk to you about the performance in the courtyard!” Rachel stomped her foot like a child as she tried defending herself. “What time it is and what to wear, since you all  _ left _ Glee club before we were dismissed. Of course, I couldn’t count on Finn to remember to tell you. No offence Finn, but your stronger qualities are towards athletics and singing, not academics.” Rachel began to ramble, insulting Kurt, his coven and even treating Finn like dirt. The tall teen didn’t seem to mind, cutting her off gently.

“Why don’t you just tell them, that way we can hang out and they can do whatever they do in Kurt’s room,” Finn suggested. Rachel opened her mouth, likely to start arguing again but Brittany cut her off.

“Unless, of course, you had ulterior motives to your visit,” she accused. Rachel looked shocked.

“Don’t be stupid and delusional, Brittany. Of course not. I don’t do things with ulterior motives, unlike you snakes,” Rachel shrieked. 

“ _ What _ did you just call her?” Santana and Quinn gritted out in unison, both their voices filled with venom.

“Finn, get her the  _ hell _ out of my sight before I jump a bitch,” Kurt demanded. Rachel protested as she was led to the living room. Kurt hurried up the stairs, grabbing Brittany’s hand and pulling her to his room. He sat with her on his bed, his back resting against the headboard with her head resting on his chest. Her eyes were unfocused, she was obviously in her own head, working through things.

She wasn’t airheaded, like people seemed to think. Like most Ljósálfar, she was childish at heart, enjoying tricks and mischief. Since Brittany was adopted by two humans and never knew her real parents, she was raised to be incredibly kind-hearted instead of thinking herself as superior, like most light elves do. That’s why she agreed to join a coven, as a lot of light elves refuse due to thinking themselves as better than both supernaturals and humans. 

It was in their nature, basically engrained in Brittany, to have a different outlook on life. To typical people, it makes no sense. If people just stopped to think about the things she’d say, they’d recognize that she makes excellent points. She seems to have her head in the clouds, but most of the time she is simply observing and letting things play out.

Brittany had been adopted by Pierce and Whitney Pierce. She was a full-blooded Ljósálfar but they’re normally solitary creatures. Ljósálfar will breed but are unlikely to stay with their partner in a relationship and are more than likely to leave their children once they’re born, simply because they either don’t care or have forgotten about the baby already. Brittany was found by the Pierce’s on their trip to Sweden. She was only a few days old so they adopted her and brought her back to Ohio. Brittany had an amazing memory, so she could remember who her birth parents were (Bjorn Nygård and Anneke Westergård) but she was happy where she was, happy with her real parents and ultimately knew her birth parents wouldn’t want to ever meet.

Kurt felt Santana and Quinn crawl onto the bed. Santana spooned Brittany, her fingers tangling with Kurt’s. Quinn laid her head next to Brittany’s on Kurt’s chest, holding her hand and playing idly with Britt’s fingers to try and gently pull her back to the real world. After a few minutes of quiet, everyone felt a sudden surge of emotions coming from Brittany’s end of the bond. They instinctively knew she had come back out of her memories, where she would hide away and count the many times people had called her stupid in her lifetime when she was upset.

“How are you feeling, Britt?” Kurt murmured, pressing a kiss into her hair.

“I’d be better if I couldn’t hear Finn and Rachel making out downstairs,” Brittany grumbled. There was a moment of silence before everyone burst into giggles. As everyone settled back down, Kurt set an alarm on his phone. They had a coven meeting to attend at the Lopez house by midnight, so they could take a quick nap before getting to work on any homework. Everyone snuggled close, feeling their coven bond settling the longer they all were in close proximity. The feeling of contentment gently lulled them to sleep. 

At quarter to twelve, long after homework had been finished and Rachel had been forced to leave by Burt, the coven and Kurt’s father were pulling into the circular driveway of the Lopez residence. Burt parked the Nav behind Nana Thompson’s sedan and the five of them exited the vehicle. Kurt and Santana were discussing their plans for the future while Quinn and Brittany were giggling about something stupid a jock had done in Algebra. The girls’ hands were linked and swinging in between the two as they followed Burt into the large house. Maribel Lopez met them at the door, bringing her daughter into a hug.

“I'm so glad you made it,” Maribel exclaimed, moving on to hug Kurt, Brittany and Quinn. Mateo Lopez poked his head out from the living area, smiling as Burt moved to shake the man’s hand.

“Querida, you know they wouldn’t miss the meeting. It’s practically mandatory,” Mateo laughed as he pulled Maribel into his arms. She swatted his chest before leading everyone into the spacious living room where Nana Thompson, Quinn’s maternal grandmother, and the Pierce’s were gathered. Though Burt and the Pierce’s were human, they were still Kurt and Brittany’s guardians respectively, so they were official coven members. It wasn’t unusual to allow human guardians into the main branch of a coven, so Burt and the Pierce’s were a part of the Thompson-Lopez coven. The four teenagers were a small branch off of the Thompson-Lopez coven, technically their own coven but they had to be watched by their guardian coven until they came of age.

Brittany sat with her parents on the horseshoe shaped couch. She and Quinn’s family were on the part of the couch that settled against the wall. Santana and her family chose to sit facing the windows while Kurt and his father sat on the opposite side that gave them a view into the beautiful house. Kurt took a moment to gawk at the chandelier and ornate fireplace, scanning the walls and memorizing the happy faces in the pictures that adorned them. He would never get tired of seeing the Lopez home.

“On to business!” Nana Thompson urged.. “I’m getting a little too old to be out during the witching hour.”

“You’re not old, Nana,” Quinn laughed, bumping shoulders with the woman. “You just don’t want to miss your late night game show marathon.” The woman smirked and waved her granddaughter off.

“Helena is correct that we should start,” Maribel said and straightened, taking out her notebook and pen. “Where would you all like to start?”

“How about the kids tell us about their day and any incidents with their magic?” Burt offered.

“Perfect!” Mateo exclaimed and gestured for Santana to begin. The kids took turns explaining how Santana’s eyes started to glow, though they didn’t explain why she had gotten so angry, just giving a vague answer when asked. They told their parents about feeling each other’s emotions and being mostly successful in keeping them at bay, how they were completely in sync without trying and could almost read each other’s minds by just looking at one of their coven’s body language or facial movements. Maribel wrote down everything diligently and they all moved on with a different topic. 

There wasn’t much to discuss. The Hummel’s, Lopez’s and Pierce’s had nothing to report, Nana Thompson said something about leaving on a trip to visit a friend that hadn’t been answering a few calls, so Quinn would be bed hopping for a couple days between the other three families. After that, they all took a few minutes to chat, setting a date for their next meeting. 

“One last thing, for Kurt and Burt,” Maribel began. “I know Carole and Finn still know nothing of us. Would you like to petition the Elders to see if you can allow them access to the world of Magick and thus this coven?”

“Yes,” Burt declared at the same time Kurt practically shouted “No!”

“What do you mean ‘No’?” Burt demanded.

“I mean, I love Carole dearly and know she wouldn’t say a word but Rachel Berry has Finn wrapped around her unmanicured pinky. He could take a vow to not speak of it but I  _ know _ she’d wrestle it out of him and then he’d have to be either memory wiped or disposed of. It’s too much trouble just for things to go haywire down the line,” Kurt explained. “I’ll be going to New York soon anyway, there isn’t a reason for us to bring up my supernatural tendencies when I won’t be home as often as I am now.” His father looked thoughtful before nodding, accepting his explanation.

“Meeting is officially adjourned then,” Maribel declared, smiling as she snapped her notebook closed. Each family took a little time to work out what houses Quinn would be staying at before everyone but the Lopez family headed for the door.

Kurt hugged Santana, Brittany and Quinn while Burt went to start the car. They all left the house, dividing into their own cars and heading home. Kurt sat in the passenger seat quietly as they pulled out of the driveway, jumping when a particularly loud car whizzed by and cut them off which left Burt huffing. He sent a text to Mercedes, telling her that she’d have to come over and hang out when Quinn was staying at his house. He also asked for the details of the Glee club performance, knowing he’d get a reply in the morning. Soon, the Hummel men were home. They whispered goodnight to each other and made their way to their respective bedrooms. Kurt washed his face and moisturized, thankful that his Siren inheritance meant his skin was a lot more resilient and therefore less likely to get acne. He put on some comfy pajamas and made his way to bed. He fell asleep without any hassle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> älskling - Darling in Swedish  
> Querida - Dear in Spanish (hopefully lol)  
> Sorry for the wait! I wanted to start the next chapter before posting this one but I got distracted playing Stardew Valley and then I got sick really suddenly a few days ago (not Covid) so writing hasn't been happening. I decided fuck it! You all have waited long enough, but just know that I don't have any of the next chapter prewritten so it may take a little while :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, if you'd like to have a little input in the story, try filling out my Google Form!  
> [Google Form](https://forms.gle/7wcfuyr2uFrRJ57m6)  
> \- N


End file.
